AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
A county juvenile board in Texas operates a juvenile justice alternative education program (JJAEP) to offer an alternative form of discipline and education for a juveline expelled from a public school district. Current law requires a county with a population greater than 125,000 to establish JJAEP for that purpose. This mandate to establish and fund the program can be harmful to a county facing budget limitations.
H.B. 592 sets out circumstances under which a county with a population greater than 125,000 is not required to establish a JJAEP.
H.B. 592 amends current law relating to certain counties that are not required to operate a juvenile justice alternative education program.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 37.011, Education Code, by adding Subsection (a-2), as follows:
(a-2) Provides that for purposes of this section and Section 37.010(a) (relating to requiring the board of trustees of a school district to deliver a copy of the order placing a student in a disciplinary alternative education program or expelling a student and any information required, to the authorized officer of the juvenile court in the county in which the student resides), a county with a population greater than 125,000 is considered to be a county with a population of 125,000 or less if the county:
(1) has a population of 180,000 or less;
(2) is adjacent to two counties, each of which has a population of more than 1.7 million; and
(3) has seven or more school districts located wholly within the county's boundaries.
SECTION 2. Provides that this Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.
SECTION 3. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2011.